FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska - When Spc. Aimee Michael came to visit her Aunt Kathe in Alaska growing up, she never thought she would have the chance to live here, but thanks to the Army here she is, with her husband Lary and her daughter, Emaleigh taking advantage of all Alaska has to offer. When she is not snowmachining, fishing or hunting, Michael is one of a group of 7 Soldiers who work at the Fort Wainwright Tax Center.
Her usual job is a geospatial engineer (she makes maps for Soldiers in combat) with 16th Combat Aviation Brigade. When her NCO selected her for the tasking, she didn't know what to expect.
"Years prior I would hand everything over to my family's accountant and he would do them for me and have me sign," she said. "I was a student then, so it was always a simple tax return." She says that she will be doing her own taxes this year and hopefully from now on.
For now she is completing up to seven tax returns a day, some simple, some a bit more complicated after finishing training online and a hands-on instructional course by the Internal Revenue Service at Eielson Air Force Base.
A typical day for her or any or any of the other Soldiers who work at the Tax Center is physical training in the morning , an 8:45 a.m. work call, three clients in the morning (one every hour starting at 9 a.m.), a 45-minute lunch (noon to 12:45), then three or four appointments in the afternoon. Thursday is slightly different. The Soldiers assigned to the Tax Center have Sergeants Time training until noon, and then they open the doors until 7 p.m. Before they leave for the day, they clean, get their files in order to be handed over to the supervisor for a second quality review, then an end of day meeting before going home to their families.
"I like being able to help people and this is a great way," Michael said. "Not everyone knows how to do taxes and that's where I come in. The best part of learning to do taxes and being able to do them is definitely the smiles on our client's faces when they leave here with a refund! The worst part of doing taxes... there isn't one!"
Social Sharing